Expanded Career Rank mod

[Arrow_1974]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to update this topic I originally created on the old forum:
Expanded Career Rank Mod (please check that link for the full history).

🔹 Full Mod (Installer version)

You can download the Full Mod version here:
👉 Rank Mod Installer (Full version)

👉 Optional: Source code Full Mod (GitHub) (if you want to build the installer and study the underlying code)

This is the feature-complete version, offering a fully customizable rank structure (minimum and maximum ranks per country selectable during installation), UI promotion popups, rank insignias, promotion certificates, and all associated visual elements.
It also includes optional reworked German medals, fully de-nazified using the official 1957 designs, as well as optional additional German decorations (Grand Cross series).
Please refer to the original forum post for detailed information.

🔹 Light Mod (JGSME-compatible)

Several users asked for a version that is compatible with JGSME, so I created a “Light” Rank Mod.

You can download it here:
👉 IL-2 Rank Mod – Light Version

👉 Optional: Source Code Light Version (GitHub) (if you want to build the exe and study the underlying code)

Installation (Light Version)

1. Download the ZIP file

2. Unzip it and place the extracted directory into your IL-2 MODS folder

3. Enable the mod using JGSME as usual

4. Run rank_promotion_checker_light.exe (located in
   <IL-2 Game Directory>\data\Career)

Recommended:
Copy rank_promotion_checker_light.exe into your Windows Autostart directory.
This ensures the mod always runs automatically when Windows starts — no need to launch it manually each time.

---

What does the Light Version do?

• Extends career promotions up to rank 13 for all countries

• Uses the native IL-2 promotion logic and visualization (event type = 6)

• Works for player and AI pilots

• No UI, no popups, no certificates, no additional German medals (de-nazified)

---

Customizing Promotions (Light Version)

If you do not want promotions beyond a certain rank, you can easily control this via:

<IL-2 Game Directory>\data\Career\promotion_config.json

The promotion thresholds for rank 5 up to rank 13 are defined like this:

"thresholds": [ [210, 80, 0.10], [270, 100, 0.10], [340, 130, 0.10], [420, 160, 0.075], [510, 200, 0.075], [600, 250, 0.075], [700, 350, 0.07], [810, 450, 0.06], [950, 600, 0.05] ]

How it works

A promotion attempt is triggered when either:

• the PCP score (first value) is reached
  OR

• the number of successfully completed missions (second value) is reached
  and

• the failure rate
  (all missions − successful missions) / all missions
  is below the third value

Example:
A promotion attempt to rank 6 happens if the pilot has:

• PCP ≥ 270, or

• at least 100 successful missions with a failure rate not worse than 10%

---

Limiting promotions to a specific rank

If you only want promotions up to rank 10 (e.g. O-6 / Colonel), simply set very high values for the remaining ranks:

"thresholds": [ [210, 80, 0.10], [270, 100, 0.10], [340, 130, 0.10], [420, 160, 0.075], [510, 200, 0.075], [600, 250, 0.075], [10000, 10000, 0.07], [10000, 10000, 0.06], [10000, 10000, 0.05] ] 

Those values are effectively unreachable, so promotions will stop at rank 10.

---

Important (Both Versions)

• The EXE must be running for promotions to work

• Placing it in Windows Autostart is strongly recommended (%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup)

• The mod runs externally and does not modify core game files

• Multiplayer is not affected

 

Any feedback is very welcome and appreciated.

Happy flying!

Edited December 15, 2025 by Arrow_1974
Source code links (GitHub) added

[FlyingH]

Would it be possible to make the exe start together with, say open trac or PWCG, through a bat fie or the likes? I´d guess a lowend PC doesn´t like having a lot of background programs running.

Can you make such a file? (Or someone else handy with programming, which I´m not!)

[Arrow_1974]

@FlyingH: Even though this mod is not really using a lot of resources (80MB RAM) and when not playing IL-2, it is idle at 0% CPU load, here a guide for automatic startup & shutdown

This guide will help you automatically start and stop the Rank Promotion Checker mod whenever IL-2 Sturmovik launches or closes, using Windows Task Scheduler.

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 or Windows 11 (any edition: Home or Pro)
• Administrator access to your computer
• IL-2 Sturmovik installed
• This guide shows the Il-2 installation via Steam on drive C. ‼️Adjust the paths to match your IL-2 installation directory ‼️

---

Step 1: Enable Process Auditing

Windows needs to track when programs start and stop. This requires enabling audit policies.

Enable Auditing (All Windows Editions)

1. Press Win + X and select "Terminal (Admin)" or "Command Prompt (Admin)"
2. Copy and paste these two commands (press Enter after each):  

auditpol /set /subcategory:"Process Creation" /success:enable

auditpol /set /subcategory:"Process Termination" /success:enable

You should see "The command was successfully executed" for both commands

Verify It Worked

Run this command to check:

auditpol /get /category:"Detailed Tracking"

You should see "Success" next to both "Process Creation" and "Process Termination".

Note: This only needs to be done once. The settings persist after reboot.

---

Step 2: Create Task to Start the Mod

This task will automatically launch rank_promotion_checker.exe when IL-2 starts.

2.1 Open Task Scheduler

1. Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc, and press Enter
2. Click "Create Task" (not "Create Basic Task")

2.2 Configure General Settings

General Tab:

• Name: IL-2 Rank Promotion Checker Starter
• Description: Automatically starts the rank promotion checker when IL-2 launches
• ✅ Check "Run with highest privileges"
• Configure for: Windows 10 

2.3 Create the Trigger (When IL-2 Starts)

Triggers Tab:

1. Click "New..."
2. Begin the task: Select "On an event"
3. Settings: Select "Custom"
4. Click "New Event Filter..."
5. Click the "XML" tab
6. ✅ Check "Edit query manually"
7. Click "Yes" to the warning
8. Replace all XML content with:

<QueryList>
  <Query Id="0" Path="Security">
    <Select Path="Security">
*[System[Provider[@Name='Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing'] and (EventID=4688)]] and *[EventData[Data[@Name='NewProcessName']='C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\bin\game\Il-2.exe']]
    </Select>
  </Query>
</QueryList>

9. Click "OK"
10. Click "OK" again

Important: If your IL-2 installation path is different, update the path in the XML accordingly.

2.4 Create the Action (Start the Mod)

Actions Tab:

1. Click "New..."
2. Action: Start a program
3. Program/script: Browse to your rank_promotion_checker.exe file (either the light version or the full version)
   • Example 1: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\Career\rank_promotion_checker.exe" or "\...\rank_promotion_checker_light.exe"
4. Start in (optional): Enter the folder path containing the executable (without the filename)
   • Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\Career\
5. Click "OK"

Critical: The "Start in" field must be filled in, or the script will fail to find its config files!

2.5 Configure Conditions

Conditions Tab:

• ❌ Uncheck "Start the task only if the computer is on AC power" (if using a laptop)

2.6 Configure Settings

Settings Tab:

• ✅ Check "Allow task to be run on demand"
• ✅ Check "Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed"
• ❌ Uncheck "Stop the task if it runs longer than"

2.7 Save the Task

Click "OK" to save. You may need to enter your Windows password.

---

Step 3: Create Task to Kill the Mod

This task will automatically close rank_promotion_checker.exe when IL-2 closes.

3.1 Open Task Scheduler

If not already open: Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc, and press Enter

3.2 Create New Task

Click "Create Task" (not "Create Basic Task")

3.3 Configure General Settings

General Tab:

• Name: IL-2 Rank Promotion Checker Closer
• Description: Automatically stops the rank promotion checker when IL-2 closes
• ✅ Check "Run with highest privileges"
• Configure for: Windows 10 

3.4 Create the Trigger (When IL-2 Closes)

Triggers Tab:

1. Click "New..."
2. Begin the task: Select "On an event"
3. Settings: Select "Custom"
4. Click "New Event Filter..."
5. Click the "XML" tab
6. ✅ Check "Edit query manually"
7. Click "Yes" to the warning
8. Replace all XML content with:

<QueryList>
  <Query Id="0" Path="Security">
    <Select Path="Security">
*[System[Provider[@Name='Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing'] and (EventID=4689)]] and *[EventData[Data[@Name='ProcessName']='C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\bin\game\Il-2.exe']]
    </Select>
  </Query>
</QueryList>

9. Click "OK"
10. Click "OK" again

Note: This uses Event ID 4689 (process termination) instead of 4688.

3.5 Create the Action (Kill the Mod)

Actions Tab:

1. Click "New..."
2. Action: Start a program
3. Program/script: taskkill
4. Add arguments: /F /IM rank_promotion_checker.exe (or /F /IM rank_promotion_checker_light.exe)
5. Click "OK"

3.6 Configure Conditions

Conditions Tab:

• ❌ Uncheck "Start the task only if the computer is on AC power" (if using a laptop)

3.7 Configure Settings

Settings Tab:

• ✅ Check "Allow task to be run on demand"
• ❌ Uncheck "Stop the task if it runs longer than"

3.8 Save the Task

Click "OK" to save. You may need to enter your Windows password.

---

Testing Your Setup

Test the Starter Task

1. Make sure IL-2 is not running
2. Make sure rank_promotion_checker.exe or rank_promotion_checker_light.exe is not running (check Task Manager)
3. Launch IL-2 Sturmovik
4. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc)
5. Look for rank_promotion_checker.exe or rank_promotion_checker_light.exe in the process list - it should appear within a few seconds

Test the Closer Task

1. With IL-2 and the mod both running
2. Close IL-2 Sturmovik completely
3. Check Task Manager - rank_promotion_checker.exe or rank_promotion_checker_light.exe should disappear within a few seconds

Troubleshooting

If the mod doesn't start when IL-2 launches:

• Verify Event ID 4688 is being logged: Open Event Viewer → Windows Logs → Security → Look for Event ID 4688 with IL-2.exe
• Check that audit policy is enabled (run the Step 1 commands again)
• Verify the IL-2.exe path in your XML matches your actual installation
• Make sure the "Start in" field is correctly filled in the Actions tab

If the mod doesn't stop when IL-2 closes:

• Verify Event ID 4689 is being logged: Open Event Viewer → Windows Logs → Security → Look for Event ID 4689
• Check that "Process Termination" auditing is enabled
• You may need to reboot after enabling the audit policies

If tasks fail with permission errors:

• Ensure "Run with highest privileges" is checked in both tasks
• Make sure you're running Task Scheduler as administrator

---

Summary

Once set up, the system works completely automatically:

1. Launch IL-2 → Rank Promotion Checker starts automatically
2. Close IL-2 → Rank Promotion Checker closes automatically

No manual intervention needed! The tasks will run every time you play IL-2.

---

Uninstalling

To remove the automation:

1. Open Task Scheduler
2. Find both tasks in the Task Scheduler Library
3. Right-click each task → Delete

The audit policies can remain enabled as they don't affect system performance.

Edited December 16, 2025 by Arrow_1974
Screenshot inserted

[FlyingH]

Thank you for thiss effort!

 

[Arrow_1974]

Just an additional information:

These mods (both Full and Light versions) are designed exclusively for the in-game Career mode of the following titles:

• Battle of Moscow (BoM)

• Battle of Stalingrad (BoS)

• Battle of Kuban (BoK)

• Battle of Normandy (BoN)

• Battle of Bodenplatte (BoBP)

⚠️ Flying Circus is not currently supported.
If there is sufficient interest, I am happy to expand the mod to include Flying Circus—please let me know.

---

Limitations

• ❌ Not compatible with scripted campaigns

• ❌ Not compatible with PWCG

---

Future Extensions

If you are interested in rank extensions for in-game campaigns or PWCG (PWCG: this one I cannot promise), please leave a comment to indicate your interest.

[X0T_01]

Glad to see the mod back again! - been enjoying a full career with it!!

[X0T_01]

Hi! I wanted to report a small bug. When I switched from BoK to BoN, my rank reverted back to Fhj. Oberfeldwebel. This didn’t happen with BoM or BoS. The switch from BoS to BoK went smoothly; the problem only starts when switching to BoN.

Is there any way I can restore my previous rank?

Thank you in advance! 🙂
(I’m using the full mod version and confirmed that it’s running in the background while the game is running.)

[Arrow_1974]

@X0T_01
I fixed that issue in my latest version of the mod (see download link above). But since you already switched to BoN, here an instruction how to fix that manually:
First you need to download a tool, that allows you edit databases. I use SQLite. You can download it from here SQLite Browser

Once you have it installed, go to <Path to Il-2 Battle of Stalingrad>\data\Career
Open cp.db. Click on "Browse Data" 

Choose "pilot" table

Sort by "personageId"

Only non-AI pilots have a personageId. Each campaign creates a new pilot "id". Normally Il-2 copies all values from the old campaign to the new one (works from BoM-->BoS-->BoK, but not from BoK-->BoN). Now look for the entry that has the highest score and pcp. This should show the values of the finished BoK campaign  (if this was your last campaign before you switched to BoN).
Change the values score, pcp ... for the BoN entry (should be the player with the highest id but having the the same "name" and "lastName" by copying the old values from BoK (or whatever campaign you switched from to BoN).
Go to rankID (there is currently rankiD = 4) and enter the rank you had. If you were e.g. "Oberleutnant" then enter  6 here.

Click write changes and close the db. Restart Il-2. You should see your old rank and the mod tracks your progress as before and promotes you once the threshold for the next rank is met (pcp score is the crucial value). If you encounter the same problem with change from BoN to BoBP - just repeat those steps.

Please let me know if that fixed your problem. 

Edited December 26, 2025 by Arrow_1974

[X0T_01]

HI @Arrow_1974

Just followed your tutorial and it worked like a charm!!! 

In any case, uninstalled the old version and updated to the current one. Thank you for your work :)

Edited December 26, 2025 by X0T_01

[Arrow_1974]

Glad you were able to fix it